China lowers yuan mid-point to 3-1/2-mth low

Published Sun, May 12 2019 9:28 PM EDT

SHANGHAI, May 13 (Reuters) - China's central bank lowered its official yuan midpoint to a fresh 3-1/2-month low of 6.7954 per dollar on Monday, amid growing concerns over escalation of the Sino-U.S. trade war.

Monday's midpoint was 42 pips, or 0.06 percent, weaker than the previous fix of 6.7912 on Friday and was the softest since Jan. 23.

However, traders said Monday's official fixing came in much higher than market expectations, which also happened last week. The midpoint was 95 pips firmer than Reuters' estimate of 6.8049.

The world's two biggest economies appeared at a deadlock over trade negotiations on Sunday as Washington demanded promises of concrete changes to Chinese law and Beijing said it would not swallow any "bitter fruit" that harmed its interests. (Reporting by Winni Zhou and John Ruwitch; Editing by Kim Coghill)